Making things right
by ProFfeSseR
Summary: Starts where 3-10 Blowups left off. Charlotte finally decides to talk to Cooper to try and make things right between them.


_A/N:__ This is the first story I've written for private practice. With things being messy between Charlotte and Cooper I've been thinking about writing one, and today I just sat down and wrote this. When you google 'a lie' you get the following description on wikipedia: "A lie (also called prevarication,falsehood) is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, protect someone's feelings or to avoid a punishment or repercussion for one's actions." But did she indeed lie to him by not telling him he was married? I guess that question will remain unanswered. The more important question is how things can be solved anyway. _

_This story is a continuation for episode 3-10 – Blowups._

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**Making things right**

Charlotte watched Cooper walk away. His shoulders were slumping and he looked so broken. He looked the way she was feeling right now. And it took everything she had inside her not to break apart at that moment. To not let go of the tears that were threatening to escape. She'd been crying too much over the past few months.

She wanted nothing more than to follow him. To give him the comfort he so much needed. But she knew it would only end into another fight. And she too needed comfort after the past few weeks. To know that things would be better between them again. Because at this moment she highly doubted if they would make it, even though she told him she would fight until he forgave her.

She lay down on her right side again, waiting for Cooper to come back to bed. And she waited and waited, while trying to fall asleep. But sleep wouldn't come, and neither would Cooper. With a sigh she eventually got up and walked into the living room.

Cooper was sitting in the launch chair, with his back towards her. She watched him for a few minutes before she entered the living room and sat down on the coffee table in front of him. Her heart broke when she saw the tears shining in his eyes. She wanted to make contact with him, by placing her hands on his knees, but she knew it would be better to give him space. To keep a fight off as long as possible.

"Cooper." She whispered as she tried to look in his eyes.

He tried his very best to avoid hers and used the back of his hand to wipe his tears away. "Go back to bed Charlotte."

"I wish I could Coop." She shook her head, sighing while taking a few moments to compose herself. "I'm sorry about Heather."

He nodded. "Me too."

"She was hurt too badly. She never really had a chance."

"I know." He sighed, shaking his head. "I just feel sorry for Dell. He had to tell Betsy. You should have seen the pain in her eyes when she found out her mother died. You should have seen the pain in his."

"I can only imagine."

They were silent for a few minutes until Charlotte asked. "Are you coming to bed?"

"She lied to him about her drug use. He trusted her with all his heart when he married her, and she went and betrayed it. She almost got her own daughter killed."

"An addiction does weird things to people. They're not like their old selves anymore. Drugs break people."

"We've all seen it in our patients. Even I see it as a pediatrician. But none of us can imagine what it's like to live with a person like that."

She tried to look in his eyes again, but he still refused to look at her. "You're wrong about that Cooper. I know what it's like to live with an addict."

"Your mother." He said, finally looking at her.

She shook her head, then nodded. "No, I mean, yes. But that's not what I meant. Alcohol abuse is just as bad as drug abuse. But I do know what it's like when someone you love uses drugs."

"How?" He said. For the first time really interested.

"They say it's easy to fell in love with a guy who's like your father. The one I fell in love with was a lot like Big Daddy. But in the end, it turned out he was like my mother as well."

He looked at her, confused. "Who are you talking about?"

"I want to leave this behind me Cooper. But maybe it's time I tell you the truth. Maybe then you'll forgive me." She took a deep breath. "Both my brothers married their high school sweethearts. I was the only one who went off to college. And Big Daddy was so proud. He paid for it all. Made sure I had a nice dorm, and he showed how proud he was when I was coming home for the holidays, and during the summer.

He couldn't have been more proud when I went to med school. During that time I dated guys but it never really turned into something serious until I was an intern. Then I met Tom, who was a few years older than me. He was this tall guy who worked out at the gym multiple times a week. And you could totally see that. He worked as an architect for a big company and he didn't mind me working those horrible hours.

We became closer and closer and that summer I decided to take him home. Big Daddy didn't like him the instant he saw him. I didn't understand why. But he told me that if I wouldn't break things off with Tom, that he would stop paying for everything he was still paying for.

I told Tom what Big Daddy said and he said that Big Daddy was just jealous because his baby girl was growing up. And then he asked me to marry him, to make things official. I argued that I wouldn't be able to tell my family and he said he didn't care. All that mattered was us.

So we went to city hall and we got married and I moved into his small apartment. I kept my own room so Big Daddy wouldn't find out. The first few weeks were great. I liked being married and he was willing to do everything for me. Then he started complaining about my work hours. And it often happened that he was drunk when I came home after a long shift at the hospital.

After a while I realized it wasn't only alcohol that was in his system but drugs as well and I confronted him. He said it was all my fault. He was lonely at night with me working and went out with his friends and got high to forget about his sadness.

I told him I only had a few more months to go and then I would become a resident and at least the 48 hour shifts were over. I promised him things would be better then.

I thought that things improved but about a week later I came home after another 48 hour shift and he was sitting in this big chair, waiting for me. I could see in his eyes that he used again and I tried to avoid it by going into the bedroom. I wanted nothing more than to finally sleep. But he followed me, kicked the door close and said I was lousy wife.

When I told him he was high and not thinking clearly he hit me. He said that if I wouldn't quit my job right away he would divorce me.

While I was afraid of the state he was in, I said that would be a great idea. Because he was a pretty lousy husband for beating up his wife. And then he got so mad that he beat me up even more before he stormed out of the house.

I cleaned my wounds and went to sleep. Not knowing what else to do. He was back when I woke up the following morning. I was scared, but he was clean and he begged me to stay with him. That it was a mistake and that he would stop drinking and stop using drugs. While I wanted to forgive him and forget about what happened, I knew better and told him I wanted the divorce and for some reason he agreed.

It wasn't until I finished my internship that I found out he already married someone else. He most likely went out with her already when we were still married. I just moved to L.A. for my residency and made myself forget about it."

Cooper was just looking at her in shock, remaining silent. After a few minutes she couldn't take it anymore. "Please say something Cooper."

"Did Big Daddy ever found out?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"How did Tom look like Big Daddy?"

"Because they were both very dominant, letting things go by their rules only. I think Big Daddy realized it the moment he saw him and that's why he told me to end the relationship. He wanted something better for me. A guy like you."

"Me?"

"You're a good guy Cooper. You take care of kids. And you take care of me."

He shook his head. "I can be an asshole sometimes."

"And I can be a bitch. But in the end we're both good people."

"You're not a bitch Charlotte. I'm sorry I called you that."

"And I'm sorry I kept this a secret. But it wasn't a normal marriage, or a normal divorce. It lasted less than a year and I really just want to forget it ever happened. The only good thing about it is that it made me more independent and less subjected on men." She sighed. "Although with you, I'm just not willing to give up. I want to fight for this relationship Cooper. But you have to want it. You have to trust me."

"I just don't like being lied to." He said, honestly.

"I know you don't. But is it really me you're angry at? Or is it Evan for lying about the abuse? You trusted him. You went to jail for him. A guy beat you up Coop." Tears almost entered her eyes again as she remembered what he'd looked like.

He shook his head. "I don't know Charlotte. Maybe you're right and I felt betrayed not only by you, but by him and also by Addison. But you're the woman I love. I need you to tell the truth all the time. Otherwise I don't know if I can be with you."

A tear escaped from her eyes. "I didn't mean to lie. I don't feel as if I did lied. But I do understand that you feel it that way. To me, it will be hard to marry you without Big Daddy walking me down the aisle. When I married Tom, I guess it was because I wanted to be independent and not have him make all the decisions for me. But you're the kind of guy he would have been pleased to see me marry. You took care of me when Big Daddy died, even though we were apart at the time. That means something."

He looked at her, trying to decide whether he agreed with her or not. In his opinion she lied, and if there was one thing he couldn't handle it was being lied to. But the way she looked at him her eyes almost begging him to forgive her, he slowly started to. He had been hard on her the past few weeks. Even though she tried to be nice

"I think I will be able to forgive you." He finally said and he heard a sigh escape from her mouth. Relieve evident in her eyes. At that point he still wondered if he was telling the truth, but as a smile appeared on her face, he suddenly felt relieved as well. He didn't like fighting with her. He never fought as much with someone in a relationship as he has with her. But maybe that meant they cared about each other, and the things they believed in. And as long as they were able to set things right, it didn't matter. Because he knew what came after a fight.

"I think I just did forgive you." He said, looking in her eyes.

She could see the honesty in there. "I'm glad, because this fight has gone on long enough."

"So no more lies?" He asked.

She nodded. "No more secrets."

"Good. He said and he bend forward to kiss her lips. When he pulled back she looked at him with a big smile.

"Come to bed with me." She said, and stood up while pulling at his hand.

"I'd love to" He replied, because he knew that she would make him forget all the bad things that happened that day, and the weeks before.

The End.


End file.
